Founded in 2019, MEERU is a community. A community of migrants, refugees, local volunteers, partners and friends: more than 150 people from all over the world living in Porto, accompanied by over 300 local volunteers who walk alongside them in their daily lives.
MEERU’s mission is to promote community cohesion through dialogue and proximity. Its model of relational integration is built on a simple but radical idea: that what people need most is not services, but relationships. Genuine, long-term, horizontal relationships between people of different origins, cultures and faiths — relationships that create trust, belonging and a true sense of home.
MEERU works across the whole journey of integration: welcoming people when they arrive, walking with them as they settle in, supporting them into employment and autonomy, and creating spaces where different communities can meet, cook, celebrate and build something together. Its social enterprise, community programmes and intercultural initiatives are all expressions of the same underlying commitment to build a world of neighbours, one relationship at a time.
At the Annual Summit, MEERU’s team will introduce participants to Portugal’s cultural and political context and its migrant and refugee integration ecosystem, including a full day of visits and encounters with local organisations and practitioners. AWoN’s story in Portugal is only beginning. Thank you, MEERU, for writing it with us!